Art of decorating celluloid



Patented Feb. 19, 1929.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

J'Am S. IOTTER, 0F

MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN, ASSIGNOIR T0 ONEIL DURO OOI- PANY, 0I' MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN.

Am.' or DECORATING cnLLULoIn.

Application led December 28, 1927. Serial No. 242,149.

This invention relatesA generally to improvements in the art of decorating celluloid and similar material, and particularly relates to the formation of artistic pictures on flexible sheets of transparent material of the pyroxylin or celluloid type.

The main object of the invention is to provide pictures on flexible transparent sheets of material which canv be rolled or repeatedly handledwithout dullingbr tearing the picture.

Another object of the invention is to provide colored picture reproductions of a multicolored product7 such as an automobile, in which the colors forming the picture are identical with the colors used on the product.

A further object of the invention is to provide a picture which is practically indestructible and which is ,adapted for use in catalogues and books subjected toa great deal of handling. l

Other objects of the invention will become apparent as the detailed description proceeds.

In the drawings l Figure 1 is a perspective view of a flexible sheet of celluloid having a picture sprayed thtreon in accordance with this invention; an

Figure 2 is a cross section, to a greatly enlarged scale, taken on the line 2-2 of Figure l.

As shown in the drawings, the invention comprises a flexible sheet of celluloid 1, having a polished surface 2 and a frosted surface 3. The picture is formed on the frosted surface 2 by spraying the colored lacquers forming'the picture through suitable stencils each of which is provided with openings corresponding in outline and location with a particular colored section of the picture.

The colors employed in this invention are preferably 4the nitro-cellulose colored lacquers now in common use for painting automobiles, and each picture is colored to illustrate an automobile in the same colors as are actually applied to the automobile.

In putting this process in practice, the design, in this case, that of an automobile is first laid out lon paper in black, white and gray. A lialftone is made from this by the usual photo phic rocess, andthe design is then printe in the osted face of the celluloid b anyfsuitable printing process. It is essential that this printing be effected on the frosted face; because the ink tends to squeeze away from the lines and later curl up when the printing is done on the glazed surface.

The various differently colored lacquers are then sprayed through the corresponding apertures in suitable stencils until the vcolored picture is completed in the same colored lacquers as are used on the automobiles which the pictures are intended to illustrate.

The finis ed picture stands out clearly on the frosted surface alone with the uncolored part of the sheet showing as a translucent ackground.A Preferably, however, I spray the back of the picture and the frosted face of the sheet with a lacquer of neutral tint desi ned to bring out the best qualities ofthe co ors used in the picture proper.

It is to be understood that many variations in the process described may be used to obtain different effects. The principle involved is that .of producing a colored picture design on a sheet of frosted celluloid so that its color combination may be viewed through the celluloid regardless of whether they are applied by hand or in any other suitable manner.

In spraying on the colors on the frosted side of the celluloid the lacquers shrink when drying and. slightly bulge the celluloid toward its polishedv face, thereby giving the icture the effect of being executed in low reief and greatly enhancing the picture from an illustrative point of view.

What I claim is 1. The rocess of decorating celluloid which consists in frosting one face of a sheet of celluloid, transcribing an outline design upon the frosted face of said sheet, filling in the outlined design with appropriate colored opaque lacquers, and coating over the lacquers and frosted lface to form a protective "JAMES s. MoTTEn 

